The
Senior Play of year 1999 is based on the famous Shakespeare's
drama:
A Midsummer Night's Dream. After watching the play, I was really
amazed
and appreciated that all the members' great efforts in the play
and
that they could present this play in such a different and unique way.
All
of them really did an excellent job and their acting is worthy of a
big
applause.
First of all I would like to talk about the setting, time and place.
The
setting is totally different from the original script and this change
makes
the play an unique one. The actors actually act in the time of the
Tang
(唐) dynasty and the whole play is put to happen in Chan-an(長安)
and
Tun-huang(敦煌). I believe that when the audience was watching the
play,
they would feel it very interesting to see those actors wearing
Chinese-style
costumes, while speaking in sixteen-century English. There
is
a sense of the mixture of the eastern and western culture in the play
by
the
conversion of the time and place. This idea is really original! By
adding
this Chinese element in the play, the audience, the Chinese
audience
especially, can catch the humor and recognize the reason that
actors
presented in this or that way. For example, when those beautiful
fairies
were dancing, they did not dance a ballet but the "Tsai-tai
Wu”(彩帶舞),
which is a typical kind of Chinese dance that originated
from
ancient China. While the carpenter, weaver, or tinker were amusing
themselves,
they were not playing cards but dice, which is a traditional
form
of Chinese gambling. Besides, the philosophy of the Buddhism is
shown
through the fairies’ dancing. Notice that while fairies were
dancing,
their fingers are in the form of lotus, which is one of the symbols
of
Buddhism. Besides, fairies even used incense in the dance to create
an
atmosphere of Buddhism. The representation of the play gives me a
feeling
of “ When the Eastern world meets the Western world in
Taiwan.”
During the play, there was wonderful interaction between the
actors
and the audience. Maybe because the play is a comedy, the
atmosphere
was jovial and the laughter was contagious. While Snug,
Bottom,
Flute, Snout and Starveling were acting; the audience was really
amused
by their excellent acting. The character, Bottom, which was
performed
by Andrew Ho, was the center of the laughter, especially when
he
became an ass. Andrew performed the ass so well with a vivid
donkey's
voice. He really has a talent in acting. As for the pronunciation,
it
surely is a difficult task to remember all these lines in sixteen-century
English.
I have talked to some of the actors and they all considered that it
is
really hard to remember all those lines. But when I was watching the
play,
they all pronounced as closely as possible to sixteen-century
English.
All the actors really put great effort in the play! Not only the
actors
on the stage but also the backstage staff including members who
are
in charge of sound effect, lightings, costumes and make-up…act all
work
as a team and that is most important thing that makes this play a
wonderful
play. Clare Su [top]